当你开始癫痫发作时，是什么样的?
When I developed epilepsy back in September of 2010, I was having 30 to 40 seizures daily. 他们一开始总是有一种奇怪的味道，气味，幻觉，气场. It would start as a simple partial seizure and evolve into a complex partial seizure where I would often lose consciousness or awareness.
I went to multiple hospitals in China for testing but was not properly diagnosed.
How were you finally diagnosed?
When I returned to the U.S., I still was not correctly diagnosed until I had an episode where I lost consciousness and an ambulance took me over to a local hospital. 他们给她做了脑电图，结果显示，“是的，她有癫痫.“那是我第一次服用抗癫痫药的时候.
那时候你的日常生活是怎样的?
我的认知能力是如此低下，以至于我基本上回到了一个3岁的孩子. 如果我在看电视，我就无法理解发生了什么. I could barely even speak a full sentence.
How did you find your way to UCSF?
I was brought to UCSF [in 2014] after having an allergic reaction to a medication, and Dr. Garcia became my epileptologist. 我尝试了其他药物，但癫痫发作还是停不下来. 我的认知能力很低，很难找到工作. It was hard to really live my life.
In 2015, Dr. Garcia said you were a candidate for surgery and you were hospitalized for a presurgical evaluation. Can you describe the experience?
他们(在手术前)在我的头骨里植入了一个有300个电极的网格. [Neurosurgeon] Dr. Chang would come in and explain, 用我和我的家人都能理解的方式, what he was seeing and what was possible. 目的是确定是否有可能 resect [surgically remove] the [brain's] insula area [where the seizures were starting].
You were a candidate for resection. How did you feel after that first surgery?
The most interesting part was emotional. I woke up from the surgery and thought, OK, I must be on some wonderful painkillers. I feel great.
My entire life, until that first resection surgery, I couldn't control my thoughts. I remember having these emotions – these high highs and low lows – for no reason. In middle school, 我坐在后院门廊的小秋千上, and I remember tearing up and saying, “我希望能和朋友交换30秒的想法. 我只是想知道停止思考是什么感觉.“直到第一次切除手术后才发生这种情况. I have not had that problem since.
Although my cognition returned [after surgery], it took about a day for me to be able to speak aloud. But mentally, I had no negativity.
After that surgery, you had fewer seizures but those you had were still intense. What was that like?
曾经有一段时间，我失去了视力，失去了听力. 我经常会从我的右嘴巴流出口水. People around me could see that something was happening, and I couldn't stop it.
It was more terrifying than before the surgery, [when] I would lose consciousness. When you lose consciousness, you wake up, you have some bruises, but you're fine. When you're awake and you can't take any control, that, to me, was the most terrifying part.
这就是为什么我在2017年3月又去做了更多的测试. 他们说:“金伯利，你需要做第二次手术."
What did they recommend?
Through the stereo EEG, they found that, yes, it was possible to further resect the left insula area. 然而，还有另一个(引起癫痫的)领域，如果Dr. Chang had resected it, could have caused me to lose cognition and linguistic ability for the rest of my life.
Dr. 张说:“金伯利，正因为如此，我们不能切除这个区域. So you are a candidate to have a NeuroPace RNS device implanted in your skull.在2017年5月的第二次手术中，他也这样做了.
该设备每周7天，24小时工作. If it senses seizure activity, it will send off signals to try to stop the seizure from blossoming. That's the word they use: blossoming. When it's doing this, I can't feel it. I have no idea it's going off.
NeuroPace可以调整以更好地控制癫痫发作. How does this work?
当我癫痫发作时，我把这个(磁铁)拿出来，在我的头皮上滑动. 然后它[指示神经刺激装置记录大脑活动]. 使用笔记本电脑，我可以发送所有的信息到 Dr. Rao.
This way, when I come in for appointments, he can see when I've had a seizure, 他可以看看他所看到的以及他认为接下来会发生什么, best option to make any changes. 当我说他做出改变时，他们都是外部的. He doesn't have to do anything invasive; it's all technologically based changes.
Dr. Rao gives me options, and as a patient, you get the final say if you want a change to be made.
听起来自从第二次手术后你的生活完全改变了.
I have a full-time job, a group of friends. I travel, I work out. I own a car and I drive. 我的生活比我生病前更好了.
Do you still have seizures?
Maybe, at the most, five per month.
我癫痫发作的频率和强度都大大降低了. [They] last up to two minutes. When I do have a seizure, I am completely awake and aware, and I can move and even walk. 如果我在说话，没人能看出我癫痫发作了. 我已经两年多没有失去知觉了.
现在我没有癫痫后的症状了. A lot of the seizures I had, especially the complex partial seizures, 第二天我觉得自己好像得了流感.
It must be such a relief.
It's a whole different world, 我非常感谢十大赌博平台排行榜们给我的所有支持, family, friends. People haven't given up.
第二次手术后，我又回到了社会. I had to let my brain heal, right? It wasn't easy. 但我没有放弃，我通过志愿服务做了很多(治愈). 我在加州大学旧金山分校儿童十大赌博平台排行榜做志愿者.
I'm forever grateful for everything that the doctors have done because my seizures are now reduced and I live my life without worrying about them. 有了这个设备，我知道我不仅仅是在治疗癫痫.
与加州大学旧金山分校的癫痫团队建立如此长期的合作关系是什么感觉?
加州大学旧金山分校是我去过的最棒的十大赌博平台排行榜之一. I go in and feel like I'm at home. I feel like they're family to me.
